2015 Western Wildfires

CHDS Alumni Respond

Summary

  • 8 Master’s Degree Program Alumni
  • 3 Executive Leaders Program (ELP) Alumni and 1 current participant

Master’s Degree Alumni[1]and Their Thesis Topic

  • Phil Cocker, Los Angeles, CA – Assistant Fire Chief, Los Angeles County Fire Department

Mission Command: Retooling the Leadership Paradigm for Homeland Security Crisis Response?

  • Bill Eller, Yakima, WA – Regional Manager / State Agency Liaison, Washington State Conservation Commission

Leveraging Rural America in the Fight against Terrorism in America through the Use of Conservation Districts

  • Paul Foerster, Seattle, WA – Battalion Chief, Seattle Fire Department

Fire Service's Role in Maritime Homeland Security

  • Glen Holder, San Diego, CA – Battalion Chief, San Diego Fire Rescue Department

The Future of Fire Department 2.0

  • Bijan Karimi, San Francisco, CA – Assistant Deputy Director, San Francisco Department of Emergency Management

Security and Prosperity: Reexamining the Relationship Between Economic, Homeland and National Security

  • Bruce Martin, South Lake Tahoe, CA – Project Manager, Bay Area UASI

Collaboration in the San Francisco Bay Area Metropolitan Medical Response System

  • Andrew Phelps, Salem, OR – Director, Oregon Office of Emergency Management

Play Well With Others: Improvisational Theater and Collaboration in the Homeland Security Environment

  • Donald Reed, Peterson AFB, CO – Deputy Chief, Civil Support Branch, Future Ops Div, U.S. Northern Command (NORTHCOM)

On Strategy: The War on Terror in Context

Executive Leaders Program (ELP) Alumni

  • Sherrie Collins, Salinas, CA– Deputy Director of Emergency Management, Monterey County (CA) Office of Emergency Services
  • Ryan Rockabrand, Santa Barbara, CA – Director of Emergency Management, County of Santa Barbara of Emergency Management
  • Christian Tubbs, Mill Valley, CA – Fire Chief, Southern Marin Fire District

Current Executive Leaders Program (ELP) Participant

  • James Ayre, Mather, CA – Deputy Superintendant / CSTI, California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services

2015 Wildfire Response

Thesis Abstracts

Phil Cocker

Assistant Fire Chief

Los Angeles County Fire Department

Thesis:Mission Command: Retooling the Leadership Paradigm for Homeland Security Crisis Response?

Abstract: Homeland security leaders faced with managing a crisis event, such as a terrorist attack, will invariably be exposed to tremendous decision-making pressure. Typically, these leaders are working within the confines of hierarchically configured response organizations. Crisis response is complex, requiring flexibility and the collaboration of multiple homeland security response partners to be effective. Mission command and the tools used to communicate a leader's intent provide an alternative approach to hierarchical leadership norms. Decentralization of mission authority and promotion of self-initiative can increase the tempo of decision making and execution. The intent of this thesis is to examine the applicability of mission command for use in managing homeland security crisis response. Several perspectives are considered. First, the origins of mission command and the efforts by a military organization to implement this ethos are reviewed. Second, parallels between both the military and the homeland security response environments are examined. Finally, implementation challenges, implementation examples using the wildland fire experience, and opportunities for implementation within the homeland security enterprise are considered.

Bill Eller

Regional Manager / State Agency Liaison

Washington State Conservation Commission

Thesis: Leveraging Rural America in the Fight against Terrorism in America through the Use of Conservation Districts

Abstract: A vast, untapped resource is available to the federal government and the Department of Homeland Security in the war on terror. The citizens that comprise rural America have long been ignored by the efforts to wage the war on terror, and have been told, along with their urban counterparts, that the government would wage the war on terror, not citizens. […]The findings and recommendations of this research advocate the creation of a domestic intelligence-gathering network, which utilizes the nation's 2,946 local conservation districts to interact with rural citizens. Conservation districts, as a unit of local government, occupy a unique place in their local communities due to their nonregulatory nature. As a result, they have a high degree of trust in their local communities. Conservation districts would forge a partnership with rural Americans and state fusion centers for information gathering purposes. Intelligence analysts would analyze that information at the state fusion center and use it to support the war on terror. In this way, the Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. intelligence community could leverage ruralAmerica as a force multiplier.

Paul Foerster

Battalion Chief

Seattle Fire Department

Thesis: Fire Service's Role in Maritime Homeland Security

Abstract: Since September 11, 2001, the fire service role as first responders has changed to include acts of terrorism. United States ports and areas in the marine domain provide terrorists with a wide variety of targets to attack. The marine domain presents many difficult and unique problems to homeland security. The open nature of ports with the high volume of goods and services, key infrastructures, and the large number of agencies with jurisdiction create a complex environment to protect. Many fire departments that protect and respond to incidents in the marine domain have little specialized equipment, special knowledge, or training needed to respond to terrorists attacks in this area. This document looks at the roles the fire service has in homeland security in the marine domain. Based on findings from maritime leaders, five roles emerged: Homeland Security Presidential Directive-8, intelligence and information sharing, area maritime security committee, interagency exercises and training and public/private partnerships. This document demonstrates the fire department's role in each of these areas, and provide a framework fire departments can use to enhance maritime homeland security.

Glen Holder

Battalion Chief

San Diego Fire Rescue Department

Thesis: The Future of Fire Department 2.0 (In Progress)

Bijan Karimi

Assistant Deputy Director

San Francisco Department of Emergency Management

Thesis: Security and Prosperity: Reexamining the Relationship Between Economic, Homeland and National Security

Abstract: What is the relationship between economic, homeland, and national security? This question drove the investigation of journal articles and federal doctrine to determine the answer. Through qualitative and quantitative research, I explored definitions, examined connections, and made observations. From this effort I found that the definitions for these security elements are cloudy; furthermore, the relationships between the elements are primarily described in relation to the elements explored but not in the context of the security environment, which plays a significant role. Key findings include: 1) there is not a balanced relationship between economic security, homeland security, and national security; 2) the security relationship is an uneven overlap of the elements; and 3) metamorphic forces shape the security relationships. All combined, when some security decisions are being made they lead to unintended consequences.

To align national security efforts, the focus should be on discussion the nation's health through the lens of security and prosperity. The first steps to accomplishing this goal are: 1) develop a national narrative, 2) integrate Department of Homeland Security and Department of Defense, 3) create a Department of Prosperity, 4) continue combatting violence and extremism and, 5) continue promoting prosperity abroad.

Bruce Martin

Project Manager

Bay Area UASI

Thesis: Collaboration in the San Francisco Bay Area Metropolitan Medical Response System

Abstract: Within the San Francisco Bay Area there are four cities that host a Metropolitan Medical Response System (MMRS) program: San Francisco, San Jose, Oakland and Fremont. The four Bay Area MMRS cities are within fifty miles of each other. The MMRS resources could be used to reinforce each other's planning and response. The 103-city, 10- county Bay Area is under one Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI). Currently though, the MMRS programs in the four cities work independently of each other and of the UASI. How can these agencies collaborate to address mission gaps and overlaps? This thesis uses a Delphi survey methodology to ascertain institutional perspectives on benefits, processes, enablers and barriers to collaboration in the San Francisco Bay Area. With collaborative effort, gaps and overlaps in San Francisco Bay Area mass casualty preparedness and response can be mitigated. This thesis recommends short term and long term actions to encourage collaboration in the Bay Area, which, in turn, can lead to better patient outcomes in infrequent mass casualty incidents.

Andrew Phelps

Director

Oregon Office of Emergency Management

Thesis: Play Well With Others: Improvisational Theater and Collaboration in the Homeland Security Environment

Abstract: Collaboration, though identified as a critical component to the Homeland Security (HLS) enterprise, can be difficult to achieve when working in complex HLS environments or addressing the wicked problems that permeate the enterprise. Federal doctrine and directives tell us collaboration is important, but we are not told how to collaborate. Improvisational theater, on the other hand, is built on collaboration among performers to invent a narrative, performers who have been trained to collaborate. Based on a distillation of improvisational theater into five key principles, a comparative analysis of established collaborative models, and a case study of collaboration in the homeland security environment, I believe that those working within the homeland security enterprise can apply the same principles used by theatrical improvisers. This thesis proposes a new framework for collaboration, the Improvisational Theater Collaboration Model. Utilizing this framework to develop collaboration training or as a tool to assess the efficacy of collaboration in homeland security environments are two suggestions for further study into the Improvisational Theater Collaboration Model.

Donald Reed

Deputy Chief, Civil Support Branch, Future Ops Div

U.S. Northern Command

Thesis: On Strategy: The War on Terror in Context

Abstract: The War on Terror, as the outcome of the al Qaeda attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001, promises to be the effort of a generation. If it is to win, the United States must approach it in a manner reminiscent of successes in past wars: with clearly defined and obtainable national objectives, and a unified national strategy to obtain those objectives. In addition, it must establish a clear long-term vision for transforming its efforts and its institutions from the industrial age to the information age as the new domain for waging war. This thesis examines the War on Terror from several perspectives. First, is the strategic context in which the war is being conducted, particularly the issues involved in its prosecution. Second, the Vietnam War and the War on Terror are examined in historical context to determine if the United States is repeating the strategic mistakes that led to its defeat in Vietnam. Third, transformation imperatives are identified which require the Nation to consider what it must do to win the War on Terror while simultaneously preparing for the emergence of greater forms of information age warfare. Finally, an adaptive capabilities-based approach is suggested for the United States to deal with the new strategic reality it faces.

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[1]Jobs listed are based on alumni self-entered data as of November 20, 2015